Kawhi "no-show job" that paid $28M

[pilkoids]

Clippers and Balmer sent $118M in 18 months:

Read on Twitter

?t=rw8B6K5YetNHAPOJmcRicw&s=19

"
Pablo Torre takes Mark Cuban's advice to dig for more receipts in the Kawhi Leonard scandal — from Aspiration insiders to the Clippers' C-suite and the cellphone of Uncle Dennis. Dan Le Batard joins Part IV of the Kawhi-Gate investigation to react to Pablo's latest scoops on the Clippers signing a carbon-credit deal and Steve Ballmer making an "insane" investment as Aspiration was falling apart… and to perform a dramatic reading."


Sent from my SM-S918W using RealGM mobile app

[LoveMyRaps]

Holy f***

Silver has to wake the f*** up and do what's right.

Read on Twitter

[StopitLeo]

Wong and Ballmer were making multimillion investments into Aspiration even after the company was openly in default.

Aspiration was making multimillion payments to Kawhi marked as "critical" even as they were laying off staff and missing rent.

There's only one explanation for both these things, and it's the Clippers using Aspiration as a go-between to pay Kawhi. It was in their interest to help prop up Aspiration, so they could keep using it for that purpose and all this wouldn't come to light.

That's the part that pokes a giant hole in any "I was also duped" defense. Even if we allow that Ballmer's initial $50M was made in good faith, Wong's $2M was invested knowing Aspiration was in default—you can't claim to be duped when the information supposedly hidden from you was explicitly disclosed in the investment agreement. The fact Ballmer then made an additional $10M investment 3 months later—when Aspiration was presumably still in default or a best in a dire financial position—is completely nonsensical.

[Brinbe]

the clippers have already thrown kawhi under the bus so they know what's coming

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/46271285/inside-tumultuous-kawhi-leonard-era-la-clippers

i'm sure uncle dennis or whomever will wind up getting piled on in the end

[Brinbe]

.

[beanbag]

Kawhi's camp trying to figure out how they can pin this on his sister.

[Mak]

Kawhi free agency will be fun if/when his contract is voided. Kawhi on Nuggets would be fun. Then he can come back to the Lakers next year.

[Zeno]

the clippers have already thrown kawhi under the bus, so they know what's coming. we already got the hit piece
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/46271285/inside-tumultuous-kawhi-leonard-era-la-clippers

i'm sure uncle dennis or whomever will wind up getting piled on in the end

I am starting to wonder if the Kawhi contract is becoming an asset based on the probability that it might be voided. Paul George and 2 firsts for Kawhi then Kawhi gets voided by the nba.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Just keeping score:

1) NBA's most public facing owner goes on multiple attacks of Torre's work.
2) Adam Silver squirms through a press conference and ends up getting caught in a bold-faced lie about his own oversight.
3) Adam Silver won't bring it up within the board of goveners meeting at all.
4) Channing Frye tells Torre 'who cares, stop snitching?"
5) All of ESPN's media gallery immediately folds and offers cover for Ballmer.
6) Torre is putting his career and his bosses' career on the line, all for one story.

[TGM]

Just lost all respect for Ballmer. Not a good show for him as an owner or one of the richest in the world.

He is a cheater! Thinks he was being clever. NBA better slap them on the wrist hard!

1. Force Ballmer to Sell. Silver way to chicken crap to do it though.
2. Fine Leonard 2x of what he received outside of his NBA compensation.
3. Ban uncle Denis
4. Forfeit 5 first round picks over the next ten years. Probably starts in like 2030 for them since they still paying for the PG massacre.
5. Big monetary fine on the Clippers. Something in the $50-$100 million range.

Last but not least.

6. Whatever the amount Kawhi got from the side honey pot should go against their cap for the next 5 years. So if Kawhi got 30 million. They have 30 million in dead money against their cap for five years straight. Also, Clippers lose all MLE rights for the period. No new free agents coming for a while.

[Tofubeque]

Holy f***

Silver has to wake the f*** up and do what's right.

Read on Twitter

Kudos to Bruce Arthur as those demands are exactly what I would need to feel the NBA handled this appropriately.

As reported by spotrac (of all places) the league investigation isn’t expected to resolve until after the All-Star break. The NBA is making a big mistake if they think they can let this linger without suspending Kawhi and Ballmer pending investigation results - which they’re willing to do to players under gambling investigation. You can’t underestimate the unity of fans when they’re given something to be outraged about. This is the biggest NBA story of the year and the biggest since the Luka trade.

[brownbobcat]

Aspiration very publicly and promptly had a number of celebrity investors, is that correct? Yes
Including Drake, the rapper? Yes
Leonardo Dicaprio? Yes
Steve Ballmer? Yes.
Have you met Steve Ballmer? Yes.
[...]
In fact, at one point, Aspiration had a deal with the Clippers, did they not? I assert my 5th Amendment rights.

Have you met Leonardo Dicaprio? No
Have you met Drake? No
Have you met Steve Ballmer? Yes.
Were you involved in securing their investment in Aspiration? I assert my 5th Amendment rights.

[Clay Davis]

There's so many people who could be helped with $28 million dollars. So many who could be helped with $118 million dollars. What a sad state of the world's rizz. Inflation is going out of control -- people's real wages are decreasing while food gets more expensive and jobs less plentiful -- and evil billionaires and multi-multi-millionaires are just throwing money around like it's nothing. And for what? You've got $150 million. What does doubling that actually do? Are you going to live two lives? Buy a bigger mansion when yours is already too big? It's just nonsense.

[Zeno]

there is definitely the appearance that Balmer was willing to basically desperately throw 100 million plus directly in the toilet to avoid a cba circumvention from coming to light. Is it not possible he could just pay off the other nba owners to say that there wasn't enough here to punish him after the investigation is concluded? The only real punishments that would matter to him involve him getting to play with his toy(the clippers) and the quality of his toy's on court product. I honestly think he'd be willing to pay the other owners a billion in secret "fines" for them to just say nothing to see here.

[6ixpessant]

Reading Mark Cuban's vomit is hilarious. He always has to be a part of the conversation. At the end of this, he's going to look like an idiot, which is all he's done for the last 20.years.

The NBA should so some pre-emptive things, like taking away the all-star game.

[anotherhomer]

i'm starting to think....they feel kawhi usefullness is coming to an end, so they ruthlessly cutting him off

[anotherhomer]

based on the last part, yes it seems that way

Multiple GMs and other league executives said they expect Leonard to play out his contract with the Clippers, which is set to end after the 2026-27 season.

But even then, one former staffer said, the organization's focus has shifted. "They're done building around [Kawhi]," he said.

"They know that and he knows that."

[DelAbbot]

Voiding Kawhi's contract would be a good step.

The man has been toxic since San Antonio.

Anyone calling for retiring Kawhi's number in Toronto should be made fun of

[brownbobcat]

there is definitely the appearance that Balmer was willing to basically desperately throw 100 million plus directly in the toilet to avoid a cba circumvention from coming to light. Is it not possible he could just pay off the other nba owners to say that there wasn't enough here to punish him after the investigation is concluded? The only real punishments that would matter to him involve him getting to play with his toy(the clippers) and the quality of his toy's on court product. I honestly think he'd be willing to pay the other owners a billion in secret "fines" for them to just say nothing to see here.

To play devil's advocate, I don't believe the payments for the carbon credits add anything to the CBA circumvention case. The intention for Intuit to go "net zero" was announced from the beginning.

Is it a great way to hide a funding conduit to Kawhi? Absolutely, but their existence itself doesn't mean much.

To me, the heart of the circumvention findings still rests in 2 things:
- Kawhi's endorsement contract and stock deal
- any communication involving Uncle Dennis and/or directive to pay

[dTox]

Read on Twitter

?t=nvlEwRnMyD1QrZlomNmUsA&s=19

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro using RealGM mobile app